The "Enough" Philosophy

"My parents were union steelworkers on an Indiana farm. They taught me about hard work, and they taught me about fairness. The idea that profit, beyond a certain point, should serve the public good isn't something I learned recently; it's a principle I've always held. Now, I finally have the capital and the opportunity to make that the central rule of my business."

When millions of people trust you with their hopes for connection—and with their hard-earned money—you have a moral obligation to them that goes beyond a stock price. At some point, you have to say, 'Enough is enough.'

"More rich people need to say that. I'll go first. This isn't charity; it's a correction. It's time for tech to serve the people again."

Running our platforms as a public service isn't a business strategy; it's the fulfillment of a promise I made to myself a long time ago. The money was made from the public, and now it will be used for the public good. It's that simple."

"Thirty years ago, I invented many of the technologies that define the modern internet: online advertising, e-commerce, even the first online dating sites. The patents for these innovations last 17 years. They have long since expired, yet big tech companies continue to extract monopoly profits from these foundational ideas, turning tools of connection into engines of exploitation."

"The public paid for these platforms once through innovation and again through participation. Now that operational costs are trivial, the endless fees and data exploitation aren't for maintenance—they are a monopoly tax. It's time to stop."

I feel a deep responsibility to correct this. Having built the original systems, I am in a unique position to build an alternative—one that returns the value to the users and creators who make these platforms work."

"I need to be clear about something. This isn't a story about me changing; it's a story about me finally being able to enforce the principles I've held all along. When I invented online dating, the goal was connection. The industry, drunk on venture capital, turned it into exploitation. I'm here to correct that."

I sold my company once, and it was the biggest mistake of my life. Not because of the money, but because I handed my creation over to a system that I knew was opposed to my core values. I watched them take something built on love and turn it into a tool for profit. The redemption here isn't for my own financial gain, but for my failure to protect my creation and its users from the exploitative practices of others.

"I'm taking the keys back. I know how these platforms work because I built them. And I'm rebuilding them to serve their original purpose: authentic human connection, free from manipulation."

This is a declaration of war against the idea that our relationships, our communities, and our creativity should be for sale to the highest bidder. They shouldn't be. And on my platforms, they no longer are. The solution is simple: an ad-free streaming service and recycling profits from online dating—all at passion.com—to fund the public good."

"People ask if my work with the Conru Art Foundation is separate from my tech life. It's not. They are both guided by the same principle: creation should serve beauty, truth, and human connection—not just profit."

Art helped me survive the darkest period of my life, but the values it reinforced in me were there all along, learned on an Indiana farm. The art world understands that you create for the work itself, for the community, for a higher purpose. Silicon Valley has forgotten this. They think the purpose of creation is a 10x return. I've always believed the purpose of creation is to serve humanity.

"This isn't a pivot; it's an integration. I'm applying the same philosophy that guides my foundation to my tech companies. A platform can be a work of art, and it's time we treated them that way."

Just as a gallery should serve artists and the public, a social platform should serve its users and creators. For too long, it's been the other way around. We are ending that. Enough is enough.

"My mother, a 'Grade A' electrician at a steel mill, had a simple rule: 'Never do anything half-assed.' For years, I've watched tech billionaires make half-assed gestures of 'giving back'—foundations, charity wings, small donations—while their core business continues to extract wealth from the public.

This is my 'not half-assed' promise. I'm not skimming off the top for charity. I am fundamentally altering the engine of the ventures themselves. We are eliminating profit as a motive where it has become toxic. Running a major tech company as a public utility, or an art foundation for the public good, is the only way to do this right.

"I always knew that if I ever got the chance, this is how I would do it. Not with a press release about a donation, but with a complete restructuring of the organization's purpose. This isn't giving back. This is building it right in the first place."

This is for my parents, who worked too hard for their money to see it disrespected. And it's for every user who has been treated as a product by Big Tech. We can do better. We will do better."

"Let's be very clear about where the money in tech comes from. It comes from us. It comes from our data, our attention, our creativity, and our monthly subscriptions. It's generated by the public.

I've always believed that profit generated from the public, beyond what's fair for risk and work, should be public wealth. What few people realize is the cost to run these platforms is now trivial compared to their revenue. The rest is pure extraction. I've made more than enough. It's unseemly to keep taking more in a world where so many are struggling. It's time for that wealth to return to its source: the people.

"This isn't philanthropy. It's a correction of a system that has allowed a few to accumulate absurd fortunes on the backs of millions. I'm reversing the flow. The money goes back where it belongs."

The other tech titans can build their rockets. I'm staying here to prove that a technology platform can be a public good. They call it insane. I call it fair. Enough is enough."